Vivaldi Winter, Largo (Arrangements for Classical Guitar & Violin)

Hey everyone! Best wishes and hope all is well!

Here’s 4 versions of classical/finger-style guitar arrangements of Largo from Vivaldi’s Winter that I’ve been working on for a while!

The melody stays the same and the guitar provides a miniature orchestral version of the accompaniment (and counter-melodies).

I usually have played them with viola or violin, but anyone could play or sing the melody!

Largo by Vivaldi – a Beautiful, Centuries-old melody

One of my favorite melodies – Largo comes from the concerto L’Inverno – one of the super-famous violin 4 concerti written a long time ago (1725, almost 300 years ago!). Vivaldi actually published the 4 concerti as a greater publication of 12 concerti in 1725.

As the story goes that the scores were rediscovered in the 1920s, and gently coaxed out of stubborn collectors’ hands to be cared for at the “Vivaldi Library” in Turin. I’m not sure when they were “lost”, but no one had probably heard the Four Seasons for many, many decades until later in the 1920s.

Sonnet for Largo Movement

Passar al foco i di quieti e contenti
Mentre la pioggia fuor bagna ben cento

Passing by the fire, the days quiet and content,
While the rain outside bathes people by the hundreds

Vivaldi wrote short poems for each of the 12 movements of the 4 Seasons. Largo in Winter describes the slow rain falling (the plucked arpeggios I believe are meant to evoke the gentle droplets falling)

More Info about Vivaldi and the Four Seasons

• About the Four Season (Redland Symphony)
• Wikipedia’s Four Seasons info
• More Stories about the 4 Seasons
• How the Four Seasons were rediscovered
• A Good Educational Overview of the 4 Seasons (pdf)

Different Interpretations and Arrangements of Winter, Largo

Differing Arrangements & Interpretations of Largo by Vivaldi

Here’s one of my favorite versions. I like it because it is beautiful and lyrical, but the bass end still has a lot of propulsion. I’m not sure why some versions have 1/8 notes in the bass – it’s the version that I have played in the past. But adding 32nd notes in the bass gives the piece a lot of forward momentum. Now that’s I’ve heard it with 32nd notes, it’s how I current want to hear it.

Here’s another lovely version

Four Arrangements of Largo (Violin & Guitar in Eb and E, 2 and 3 voicings)

In any case, I’ve included four arrangements (the melody played on whatever instrument a person would desire) in:

• E (3 voices, standard tuning, 32nd note bass),
• Eb (3 voices, altered tuning, 32nd note bass).
• Eb (2 voices, standard tune, 1/8 note bass),
• E (2 voices, standard tune, 1/8 note bass),
• Of course, the bass notes (in these arrangements) are the same in either 1/8 or 1/32 note versions, so you can decide which you want.

Try playing along with a good version to get the feel for this beautiful Largo!

If you don’t want the arrangement, you can just play the chords. Just arpeggiate the chords. I’ll try to add the chords sometime soon.

In any case, hope you enjoy! I’ve included a version with a viewer on this page.

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A Trio Version of Largo (Violin, Guitar and Bass)

This is something I recorded with my friend a while ago 🙂 And the original inspiration for these arrangements!